All-weather rain hat



Jan. 27, 1959 E. BRODSKY ALL-WEATHER RAIN HAT Filed March 11, 1958 INVENTOR li/4 f 5200543 BY Z 5 2 ATTORNEY United States Patent 2,870,451 ALL-WEATHER HAT Elaine Brodsky, New York; N. Y. Application March 11, 1958, Serial No.- 728,761 4 Claims. C1. #202 This invention relates to foldable head coverings, and is directed particularly to the provision of a foldable head covering for use by women which has the distinguisliing' characteristic of protecting the head of the wearer from rain, wind and snow without disturbing her coifiu'r.

One 'of the problems of modern life is" that encountered by women in the face of an unex ected rain. If a man is hatless, not much damage is done; but a woman without ahead-covering often ends up with the problem of redoing her hair. As a result, many women carry in their handbags foldable head-coverings, which are generally scarves of waterproof material which fit over the head and tie under the chin. These protect the hair against rain to a great extent, but they often do not completely cover the hair, and rain may seep in. Furthermore, they tend to loosen in a wind. Their most serious disadvantage, however, is that they push the hair downward against the head. Where a woman has an elaborate coiffure, or where she had just come from a beauty parlor and her coilfure is fresh, this pushing down of the hair often damages the coiffure and spoils the desired effect.

It is the principal object of the present invention to provide an inexpensive head-covering for women which can be folded so that it can be carried in a ladys handbag, and which will protect the head of the wearer from rain, wind and snow without damaging her coiffure. A further object of the invention is the provision of optional means for protecting the face of the wearer as well against the elements.

According to the present invention, these and other advantages are achieved by the use of a head-covering comprising a substantially stiff support-preferably a rod-wider than the head of the wearer, attached to which is a flexible crown portion, preferably fiat, the support and crown portion having attached thereto a hood covering the sides and back of the head, and means for securing the hood about the neck of the wearer. Preferably a transparent visor is attached to the device, either detachably or by a hinged connection at or below the support, to protect the face of the wearer.

The invention can be best understood by reference to the drawings, in which a preferred form of the device is disclosed. It will be obvious that the invention as shown in the drawings can be modified, and thatit is not limited to the specific embodiments herein disclosed, but only by the claims herein.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a preferred form of the invention, showing one Way of attaching the visor;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of a device similar to that of Figure 1 (except for the means of attaching the visor) in position on the head of a wearer, with the visor retracted;

Figure 3 is a vertical section from the side in the direction shown by the arrow in Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a vertical section along the line 4-4 in Figure 2;

2,870,451 Fitiitd Jan. 27, 1959 2. Figure 5 is a top view of the device; and p b Figure 6 is a perspective view of the device, folded about the stiff support.

According to the invention, the device is built about a rigid support (10) which is wider than the head of the wearer. The support is preferably a thin relatively stiff rod as shown. It may, however, be of any convenient cross-sectional configurationround, square, triangular, etc. It may be straight as shown; it may be curved for reasons of styling; or it may be U-shaped with arms extending backwards to get more rigidity for the unit. Furthermore, it may be jointed to permit folding the headcovering into a more compact unit; in such event, the joint must be capable of being stilfened so that in use, the element acts like a unitary rod wider than the head of the wearer.

A piece of thin water-resistant fabric 12 is cut a bit wider than the rod 10 and the rod is sewn into it adjacent the front end of the fabric by a row of stitching 12, to provide a depending portion 14, a rod encasing portion 16, and a crown portion 18. The back of the crown portion is cut into an are 20; A hood 22 of material similar to the fabric 12 is sewn to a skirt 24 formed all about the sides and back of the crown 18 by pushing down the outside rim thereof. Slots 26 cut into the base of the hood carry a strap 28 which can be tied about the neck of the wearer under the chin to hold the hood in place. This manner of securing the hood can obviously be replaced by other forms of fasteners, e. g., snap fasteners, slide fasteners or buttons and buttonholes, on the matching front bottom portions of the hoods.

The hood 22 is also preferably sewn to the dependent piece 14 along its edges to give the top front of the hood slightly more rigidity. A binding 30 about the free extremities of the hood is preferably used to prevent raw edges from showing, and may be chosen to provide color contrast.

A transparent visor 32, of some thin clear plastic material, is provided to protect the face of the wearer. It may be secured to the piece 14 at its base by a row of stitches 34 as shown in Figure 3 of the drawings; or it may be removably attached, as shown in Figure l, with a slide fastener 36,- or with snap fasteners or buttons. Preferably a binding 38 is provided about the visor which carries studs 40 matching the female elements 42 of snap fasteners carried on the binding 36 of the hood, to prevent the visor from blowing in and out with the wind. The visor may be swung back along the line of connection with the piece 14, as shown in Figures 2 and 3; or it may be worn down, as shown in Figure l; or it may be removed entirely, if the form shown in Figure 1 is used.

When the head covering is put on, it sits loosely on the head, with the crown portion 18 sitting on the hair on the very top of the skull. If new the strap 28 is drawn about the neck, and tied under the chin, the rear of the crown portion 18 is drawn downwardly abit, and the back portion of the hood 22 will lay against the hairline in back. However, no pressure is developed unless the wearer pulls the strap 28 too tightly; normally the back of the hood merely lays loosely against the hair without pressing down on it. In front and on the sides, however, the hood 22 can exert no pressure whatsoever on the coiffure no matter how tightly the strap 28 is drawn. The triangle formed by the support 10, and the top of the skull, holds the hood out from the head as shown in Figures 4 and 5, so that the hood stands away from the front of the coilfure, and has no tendency to disrupt it. As a result, the front and sides of the hair in front of the ears, where womens coilfures are most sensitive to disarrangement, are completely protected both from the elements and from the head covering.

The device is preferably made of fabric with a plastic visor, most preferably of water-resistant but breathable fabric, but it may be made of rubberized fabric, or of transparent plastic throughout except for the bindings. It is obviously foldable or rollable about the support 10, as shown in Fig. 6, to form a small unit, only as long as the support 10, which is slightly wider than a womans head. The folded or rolled rain hat will fit into most womens handbags, but preferably is supplied with an envelope into which the folded hat can be placed. If desired, the support 119 can be made in sections, so that the hat can be folded into a shorter thicker unit.

As suggested above, the device of the invention is particularly useful to women with elaborate or fresh coilfures, but it is generally useful in protecting against rain, wind and snow while minimizing disturbance of any sort of hair-do.

Obviously, the specific embodiments of the invention disclosed can be extensively modified without departing from the spirit of the invention, which is defined in the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A foldable water-resistant head covering for women comprising a flexible flat crown section with a substantially straight front portion which, when in Wearing position, is adapted to be wider than the head of the wearer, a flexible hood section depending from the sides and back of the crown section of sufiicient length to be adapted to be tied about the neck of the wearer, a

rigid support disposed along substantially the length of the front portion of the crown section, and means for tieing the hood section about the neck of the wearer, the rigid support being the only rigid element in the head covering, whereby the head covering can be folded about it, the support acting to prevent the hood section from exerting pressure on the coiffure of the wearer on the front portion of the head when the hood section is tied about the neck of the wearer.

2. The head covering of claim 1, in which a forehead engaging rectangular piece is dependent from and secured to the front portion of the crown section, and is also secured to the hood section.

3. The head covering of claim 2, in which a transparent visor is attached to the rectangular piece.

4. The head covering of claim 1, in which the rigid support is a rod of rigid material.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 423,053 Heller Mar. 11, 1890 1,096,415 Davison May 12, 1914 1,482,270 Shuster Ian. 29, 1924 1,994,212 Davis Mar. 12, 1935 1,996,367 Davis Apr. 2, 1935 2,641,768 Pipher June 16, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 7,049 Great Britain 1903 

